R.S.A. CONFERENCE

Grey River Argus, 20 June 1945, Page 5

R.S.A. CONFERENCE

LAND SETTLEMENT PROBLEM WELLINGTON, June 19. “Land settlement is one of our hardest problems,” said Mr Skinner. “This is not because of the difficulty of 1 acquiring land. We shall be able to get all the land we want—the difficulty is in materials and labour. Building and fencing materials, for instance, and services are a considerable hurdle. We have blocks of land which have been ready for some time and ballotted for. There is something in excess of 130 blocks which will be theirs just as soon as sub-division can be completed.” The Minister referred to the widening of the scope of the Rehabilitation Act. As an instance of its broader application, Mr Skinner said that he knew of men who had served with the Chinese forces who would now be covered by the benefits of the Act. Also children of ex-servicemen were to have benefits extended to them such as their father would have been entitled to. WORK OF PENSIONS APPEAL BOARD. WELLINGTON, June 19. The increase in pensions had given a great deal of satisfaction, said the Minister of Defence (Mr Jones) at the opening of the R.S.A. conference to-day. “We still have many cases for the War Pensions Appeal Board to complete, but we are hoping that they will be able to get right up to date and that there will be no delay,” he said. General satisfaction had been expressed at the work of the Appeal Board. The appointment of part-time doctors in the smaller districts would be of great assistance to both the board and ex-servicemen.